Pierce County Cancels Monday's Lahar Siren Test

SUMNER, WA — The monthly lahar siren test will not go off this month after all.

Thursday, officials announced that the siren's test noise had been changed from the regular siren's wail to something more peaceful; all lahar emergency tests going forward will instead use a chime tone, followed by a voice saying "this is a test."

While the upgrade is complete and the county says the sirens should all be up and running, there will not be a siren test this month. Normally lahar sirens go off at noon on the first Monday of every month. This month, that would be October 5.

However, because the siren sound has changed, the county says they want to make sure everyone is aware of the change before they set the sirens off. They'll be continuing to spread awareness through the month over social media and other communication avenues, and hope to resume the regularly-scheduled test next month on Monday, November 2.

There are a total of 42 sirens in the Puyallup and Nisqually River Valleys. The new test chime the sirens use can be found on Pierce County's website here.